


What do I get?

by afrocurl



Series: distractions [4]
Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Birthday Party, F/M, Kid Fic, Rule 63
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-20
Updated: 2014-05-20
Packaged: 2018-01-25 20:30:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1661453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afrocurl/pseuds/afrocurl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's finally time for Lorna to get a birthday party, but it's not quite how she wanted it to turn out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What do I get?

**Author's Note:**

> Written for my kidfic square on my trope-bingo card.

All things considered, the years had been very kind to her and to Charles. The school bloomed into an establishment that kept them far too busy - both with classes and administrivia - and their daughter on top of that left them with very little free time.

Not that she minded the precious few hours she had with Charles and Lorna alone each week, because they were theirs and they were far better hours than she remembered as a girl and Charles felt the same, even if he never verbalized his childhood stories as she had. She would love for there to be more time for them as a family, but the school would always come first; the school was about the future of all mutants, not just their own.

But today, today was the day when family trumped everything else that had taken over the mansion in the past six years or so. To be sure, life outside of the mansion was fraught with tension - the war, the protesters, the counterculture - but that all mattered little when Lorna had made a very specific request that turned into a birthday party.

Parties, at least within the context of the school, were difficult to organize: so many students with different needs and different ages. But for their daughter, Charles and Erika spared no cost and planned one to give their daughter something that they had rarely felt as children.

She remembered how the conversation had gone, more easily as she remembered what work lay ahead for her this week and smiled softly.

_“Can I have a pony?” Lorna had asked one day, her green hair coming out of her simple plait after her nap and playtime._

_“The school has a few horses, but none specifically for you,” Charles had said, and Erika hated that the refusal made Lorna pout. It was for the best, though. It was not easy for them to consider Lorna as their child and as their pupil both, even as they both understood that she could go nowhere else as soon as the moss-green hair appeared, shortly after she was born._

_“We can’t get you a pony of your own, but we can throw you a party,” Erika added, because she had work to do after they managed to put Lorna down for the night and there was no way she wanted to risk a tantrum with her pocket change._

_“A party?” Lorna asked, and her face revealed enough confusion that Erika wanted to laugh._

_“Yes, a party. Just for you. All the other students will be there and there will be cake and games and maybe a few presents.”_

__You’re going to spoil her, _Charles said mentally._

 __No more than she already is. _Erika was still haunted by how spartan her childhood had been and marveled at what Lorna had instead: her own room filled with dolls and toys, and more than enough clothes._

_“I get a party,” Lorna said, her voice sure and a hint of that gleefulness that she shared with Charles._

_“Yes,” Charles said, “one just for you. Now, will you look at the time? It’s time for all good little girls to get ready for bed before I read to you.”_

_Erika watched, content, as Lorna scurried off their bed and went towards her room._

_“Are you ready to plan this on top of everything else?” Charles asked._

_“It shouldn’t be too much work. Just a call down into town for the bakery and a few trips to the grocery story for punch and the like.”_

_He kissed her sweetly on the forehead before he went off in search of Lorna to read._

Even now, as she helped to organize the paper plates, punch bowls and waited on the large sheet cake to come outside into the garden, Erika wouldn’t have wanted anything else. She had a husband who loved her, a daughter who was starting to manifest her own powers, and a life that had seemed impossible half a decade ago.

 _Lorna’s been trying to collect all the coins in my pockets. Are we ready soon?_ Charles’ question was tinged with a bit of what she had learned was fond exasperation.

_Hank’s just brought the cake out, so yes, we’re ready. Will you let everyone else know?_

There was a soft laugh. _I think they all know what time it is, but I’ll let them know. We’ll be down shortly._

Lorna, for all that she had changed Erika, had also given something else to her mother: a sense of quiet hope that Lorna’s life would be wholly different from Erika’s own.

**Author's Note:**

> Betaed by **ninemoons42** , but at this point all mistakes are my own.


End file.
